Shirley Temple Time - A 1941 Christmas Radio Series

 

Cover to Radio Life, November 30, 1941. From American Radio History.
For the complete magazine as a PDF 

December 5 - 26, 1941 - Shirley Temple Time For Elgin (or Shirley Temple Time) was a four-episode Christmas season radio program that featured the world's most famous child star in her first regular radio series. Two of the four episodes have survived and are widely available as downloads or CDs. Each episode paired Temple with a popular Hollywood leading man. For the definitive guide to this series go to this page from the Digital Deli.

Saluting "The Old Rebel" on His 100th Birthday.

Image from Find-A-Grave. George Elliott "Old Rebel" Perry (1921 - 1980)

"Greensboro's Santa Claus". For generations of people in North Carolina as well as Virginia and beyond, that phrase may conjure memories of "The Old Rebel". This was the kids TV persona of WFMY Channel 2 reporter and host George Perry who was born 100 years ago on December 2, 1921 in Iredell County, NC. 

From the early 1950s to the 1970s, Perry was an institution with his top hat, tie and false whiskers. The Old Rebel was accompanied by Pecos Pete, Uncle Roy, Lonesome Lee and many other beloved characters. 

There are many memories of Perry to be found online at sites like TV Party, WFMY-TV, North Carolina History blogs.

The Version of "Annie" You May Never Get To See.

Tonight on December 2nd, 2021, NBC is debuting "Annie Live!", a 3-hour telecast of the Tony Award winning musical based on Harold Gray's comic strip moppet. Since "Little Orphan Annie" debuted on the funny pages in 1924, her adventures have been translated to movies, radio (remember the Ovaltine decoder from "A Christmas Story"), books, and merchandise. 

One version of Annie, which by an amazing coincidence, debuted December 2nd, 1938, seems to be lost today.

"Little Orphan Annie" (1938, Paramount Pictures) was the second big screen version of the character, the first being in 1932. 11 year old Ann Gillis (1927-2018) starred as Annie. She is best remembered today as Becky Thatcher in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" also from 1938. By some accounts "Annie" recieved mostly poor reviews. In an interview later in life, Gillis herself said it was "pretty dreadful". Part of the blame could be on a screenplay that derived a lot from the comic strip and radio version that was on the air at the time. The story concerned Annie's attempts to help a prizefighter in a community, with no mention of Daddy Warbucks and other elements from Gray's comic strip.

Having researched this film for years, I have found no evidence that it was screened in American theaters after 1941, was ever shown on television, or exists in any film archive. A film research peer has also shared with me that this film is lost and, if found, is now in the public domain. Adding more sadness to this story, I recall that when IMDB had discussion forums, one was posted by a relative of Ann Gillis hoping for any information leading to a copy of this movie. Sadly, like many performers from Hollywood's Golden Age, "Annie" was a part of her filmography that Gillis never saw again. 

After 83 years it is unlikely, but not impossible, that this lost version of Annie will ever resurface.

Saluting 100 Years of Children's Radio

Sometime between October 1 and October 5, 1921, a newspaper editor named William F. B. McNeary climbed a 15 ft ladder, entered the rooftop radio studio of station WJZ in Newark, New Jersey and read a bedtime story by writer Josephine Lawrence over the microphone as the "Man In The Moon". This was the beginning of the first radio series constructed specifically for children. Childhood has been tremendously different ever since.

Today 100 years later children have access to more hours of broadcast and streaming media than they could possibly consume in a lifetime. Yet it all started with one program over the radio. In reflection of this milestone, more histories of pioneering radio and television juvenile series will be explored in future blog posts and videos from the Children's Media Archive.

From The Archives: A Quiz Kids Radio Postcard

Above and below is a front and back view of a vintage postcard from the classic radio series "Quiz Kids" (1940-1953). Dated some time in the 1940s, this postcard was a special Christmas gift from my wife.

September 2021 Part 1 - This Month in Kids Media

It has been over a year since I posted a feature based on children's media anniversaries. September being the traditional fall season debut month makes it a great time to restart.

A cropped publicity photo of the cast of "Sky King". Image for Wikimedia Commons.

70 Years Ago - September 16, 1951. The television adaptation of radio's "Sky King" debuted on ABC-TV. The aviation western series would make iconic 1950s stars of its leads (above left to right) Kirby Grant Gloria Winters, and Ron Hagerty.

    (Above: A 1953 ABC promo for Sky King and other ABC Saturday Morning TV Series)

The TV Version of "Sky King" was to be a replacement for "The Magic Slate", another children's series sponsored by Swift Foods Peter Pan Peanut Butter.

(Above: Radio ad at the end of Mutual's "Sky King" for TV's "The Magic Slate" another program, sponsored by Peter Pan Peanut Butter).

Thunderbolt the Wondercolt - TV's First Super Animal Series

Thunderbolt The Wondercolt

Broadcast: June 03, 1953 - July 1955 ** KTTV Los Angeles, CA. Weekdays at 6:00pm Pacific Time.

Sponsors; Challenger Dairy Products.

Producer: Bob Clampett.

The Hook: If considered a superhero-themed show, Thunderbolt would be the second or third superhero program in TV history after "Adventures of Superman" with George Reeves.

Thunderbolt the Wondercolt was a children's puppet TV series about the adventures of a horse with a super-powered secret identity. It aired weekday afternoons on station KTTV from Los Angeles, California from 1953** - 1955.

Thunderbolt is extra unique as a spinoff from animation legend Bob Clampett's Emmy-winning "Time For Beany series. That meant satire to pull in an adult audience just as "Beany" had pulled in Albert Einstein. From review articles in Los Angeles newspapers the series was popular during its short run, and it is unfortunate the so few of the Clampett puppet shows are available to the public today.

An overlooked aspect of "Thunderbolt" is that it debuted on Wednesday, June 3, 1953, less than a year after "Adventures of Superman" with George Reeves. This makes it a contender for TV's second superhero series (3rd if "The Lone Ranger" with Clayton Moore counts.

If this claim is over the top, since it is a satirical puppet series, Thunderbolt could at least be considered the TV's first super animal.

Sources:

**Broadcast dates are based on newspaper TV listings of station KTTV from The Los Angeles Times. While the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) lists the show as starting in 1952, the following articles list Thunderbolt as a "new creation" from Clampett.

Ames, Walter. "Star Studded Palsy Show on KECA Tonight; Thunderbolt The Colt Is New Puppet Hit". June 5, 1953.

T. V. Tops. "To Be Seen and Heard". June 8, 1953. San Bernadino County Sun. https://www.newspapers.com/image/49399034